The Daily Brief – 11th June 2019

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka, President of the island nation Maithripala Sirisena gifted Samadhi Buddha statue (Buddha in meditation posture) to Modi. PM Modi is first foreign leader to visit Sri Lanka after Easter attacks. The masterpiece is the replica of Samadhi Buddha statue which is considered to be one of best sculptures of Anuradhapura era (377 BC to 1017 AD) which is the first established kingdom in ancient Sri Lanka. The original statue was sculptured between 4th to 7th centuries AD.

India and Portugal will be setting up a national maritime heritage museum at ancient Indian site of Lothal in Gujarat which was one of port cities of Indus Valley Civilization (Harappan Civilization). The proposed maritime museum in India is likely to come up on lines of similar museum at Lisbon, which is administered by Portuguese Navy.

Chaukhandi Stupa, an ancient Buddhist site located in Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh (UP) has been declared as ‘protected area of national importance’ by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Stupa was originally built as a terraced temple during Gupta period (4th-6th centuries AD) to mark the site where Lord Buddha traveling from Bodh Gaya to Sarnath was reunited with panchavargiya bhikshus who had previously deserted him at Rajgir.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Male, Maldives, an MoU was signed between National Center for Good Governance (NCGG), India’s leading civil services training institution and Maldives Civil Services Commission for capacity building (training) of 1,000 civil servants of Maldives over next five years. In April 2019, NCGG had trained 28 Maldives civil servants.

NASA is opening the International Space Station (ISS) to adventurous tourists. As per NASA, space tourism could happen as soon as 2020 for USD 59 Million per person. Private research, product testing and commercial ventures will also take place at ISS. NASA will organise only two space tourism trips per year and not more than 5% of ISS resources will be used by commercial tourists.

World number 2 Rafael Nadal wins French Open 2019 to become the first person to win 12 titles at a single event. Nadal beats Dominic Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 to win the title for the straight third year. It is also known as Roland Garros title and Rafael Nadal is famous as king of clay. Nadal is now just two titles behind Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 majors and is three ahead of world number one Novak Djokovic.

Save the Children’s 2019 Global Childhood Report comprises End of Childhood Index that evaluates countries on the wellbeing of children (0-19 years) on eight indicators. Out of 176 countries, Singapore topped the ranking with a score of 989 while Central African Republic ranked last among countries surveyed, scoring 394. India was ranked 113. Child mortality rate reduced by 55% in the last two decades in India. In India about 38% of children under five were stunted.